Summary
Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) is one of the major causes of diarrhoeal diseases in humans and is highly prevalent in Low and Middle-Income counties (LMICs). Although C. jejuni has a broad host range, chickens remain the primary source of human infection. Intriguingly, C. jejuni naturally inhabits chicken’s gut with little or no sign of diseases or illness, while in the case of humans, C. jejuni causes acute gastroenteritis and several autoimmune disorders. Except for bio‐security measures, currently, no vaccine is available for humans or chickens. Moreover, with the high prevalence of antibiotic-resistant C. jejuni strains in developing countries, including India, Campylobacteriosis has become a more pressing global health issue. In search for effective measures to control C. jejuni, our group recently identified multiple vaccine targets which are generally associated with bacterial attachment to host cells and facilitate disease progression.
For this study, we modified a food-grade probiotic bacteria Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis), a commonly used bacterial strain to ferment dairy products, to express the multiple target proteins of C. jejuni. In the proposed research, we intend to use a combination of these modified recombinant bacteria (rL. lactis) as an oral vaccine against C. jejuni in commercial chickens. We expect that in addition to the general health benefits of probiotics, the combinatorial application of multiple vaccine targets will (combination of CadF, JlpA, and Hcp of C. jejuni) prevent C. jejuni colonization in vaccinated chickens, ensuring better poultry health and reduce the risk of human infection via the food chain.